Across the Atlantic, there is the Russian “collusion” narrative that has gripped Democrats ever since Election Day 2016. President Trump didn’t help with some of his gross rhetoric and refusal to criticize Vladimir Putin. But as a matter of policy, he has proved far tougher on Moscow than President Barack Obama. Trump has armed Ukraine, bombed Russian operatives in Syria and squeezed Putin’s clients in Tehran, among other things.
Yes, Russian operatives flooded social media with misleading (and often comically amateurish) posts, as a Senate Intelligence Committee report this week reaffirmed. But it takes a deeply cynical view of voters in places like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to think they cast their ballots for Trump because of online memes — rather than, say, because he spoke to their anxieties over immigration and working-class jobs and wages.This was a person who had been breathlessly following the right's reporting that Michael Flynn's 302s (the FBI interview report) would, if the original ones were released, show intentional meddling by the FBI to make it look like Flynn was lying--when he was not.
This belief--promulgated by Internet instigator Mike Cernovich--came to a head last night when, in a blaze of excitement, the judge sentencing Flynn ordered the original 302 reports released and it turned out? Nothing. Well, there was something--they showed pretty conclusively that Flynn was lying on behalf of Trump.
Considering that Mueller really wants Trump to answer some more questions, there is likely a reason he didn't want those out in the open.
What does this tell us?
The NY Post Author Does Not Understand Conspiracy Theory
The NY Post writer makes a pretty basic "mistake"--it's actually a rhetorical slight-of-hand switch where he goes from "of course the Russians did what the Democrats (and the FBI, CIA, NSA, etc.) said they did--but the conspiracy theory is believing it had any impact."
That's not what a Conspiracy Theory is. The reason social media--all of which was targeted by a reasonably sophisticated campaign of disinformation--is free is because millions of people--advertisers--believe that if they can reach you with their message you will buy their product.
Is it conspiratorial to think that voters believe things they've seen online--things that are obviously not true? Well, The Omnivore is something of an expert in Fake News. Here are some things voters believe--because they saw them online.
- Obama was getting ready to take over Texas and was moving in UN troops through secret tunnels under Walmarts.
- Hillary and her pollster, the Beneson Group was planning to stage a fake alien invasion--to try to swing the 2016 election.
- Democrats were running a child-trafficking ring out of a (non-existent) basement in a pizza parlor.
- Obama was arresting or removing generals who wouldn't "command fire" on Americans so he could cement his take-over plans.
- Hillary has killed everyone who has ever been set to testify against her.
- The earth is flat.
Even the idea--which the NY Post author suggests--that Trump has been "harder on Russian than Obama ever was" is false. Obama implemented the Magnitsky sanctions--which Putin hates. And he responded to to Russia's information warfare (and real warfare in Ukraine) pretty strongly--Trump comparatively? Has done everything in his power not to act against Russia.
The Omnivore made a Greatest Hits graphic.
Information War
It is worth remembering too that Russia invests quite a lot in its propaganda / disinformation operations. They consider this, correctly, a strategic advantage--one they use not just against us--but against Western Europe and countries they wish to run real operations in. It is safe to say that the Post author is not an expert on propaganda (remember: armies have utilized propaganda for a very, very long time)--or on information war--or on fake news.
No--he ignores a real history of successful propaganda ops in favor of trying to defend the GOP for not taking actions against Russia which, obviously, should have been taken.
That, in itself, is a kind of #fakenews.
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